iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods Named to Time Magazine's Best Gadgets of the Decade - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods Named to Time Magazine's Best Gadgets of the Decade

by

TIME has published a list of what it believes are the 10 most important gadgets introduced in the last decade, and three Apple products have made the cut, including the iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods.

The original iPad was unveiled by the late Steve Jobs in 2010, while the Apple Watch and AirPods were released in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

"Before the iPad's introduction in 2010, the idea of a 'tablet computer' was mostly relegated to slick science fiction movies and unwieldy laptop-adjacent monstrosities running terrible software," writes TIME's Patrick Lucas Austin. "Apple's iPad — like the iPhone before it — resulted in a cultural shift for personal computing, and set the tone for the next decade of portable devices."

Austin adds that the Apple Watch "set the standard for what a smartwatch could do," while he believes AirPods are "the gold standard of truly wireless audio," especially after the launch of AirPods Pro.

The list also includes the Tesla Model S, Raspberry Pi, Google Chromecast, DJI Phantom, Amazon Echo, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Adaptive Controller.

Tag: TIME

Popular Stories

Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Apple Card Promo to Offer Free AirPods Pro 3

Friday May 15, 2026 8:59 am PDT by
Starting as early as next week, customers who sign up for an Apple Card at Apple's retail stores in the U.S. will receive $249 cash back when they purchase AirPods Pro 3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The promotion has yet to be officially announced by Apple, so exact terms and conditions are not available at this time. AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249 in the U.S., so customers who...
Read Full Article • 47 comments
Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 CarPlay Light mode 250609

Six Popular iPhone Apps Now Available on CarPlay

Thursday May 14, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's CarPlay system for accessing iPhone apps on a vehicle's dashboard screen has received six popular apps in recent weeks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and the indie artist streaming platform Audiomack. Make sure you have the latest version of each app and they will automatically appear on CarPlay. ChatGPT Starting with iOS 26.4, CarPlay supports voice-based...
Read Full Article • 29 comments
ipad mini 7 blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Thursday May 14, 2026 5:08 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...
Read Full Article • 88 comments

Top Rated Comments

Justin Cymbal Avatar
Justin Cymbal
84 months ago
I use my Apple Watch and AirPods Pro everyday

Apple continues to innovate 7 years after Steve Jobs passed away
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sykora171 Avatar
Sykora171
84 months ago
Agreed. So curious as to what devices will come in the next decade.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E
EchoplexSE
84 months ago

I returned my Watch 5 (cellular) and the Air Pods because I was stuck between AT&T and Apple store employees for nearly 4 hours getting the watch to work.
In. The. Apple. Store. 4 hours. Apple blamed ATT, ATT blamed Apple. Both lost my business. I returned the Air pods as a further insult to poor customer service on Apple's part.
You really showed them!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Iconoclysm Avatar
Iconoclysm
84 months ago

Sorry for turning more than a year into years, but yep..... my Bragi Dash and then Bragi The Headphones had no trouble pairing with my iPhones, did everything and more that the first AirPods did, and were WAY better than Apple‘s first attempt as they sealed your ear canal rather just hang in your ear. Even if Apple had released the Pros at the time they released the originals, Bragi should have gotten the nod.
"Trouble" pairing is not the same thing. And no, they didn't do what the first AirPods did in that regard, and they cost twice as much. They had worse battery life too. How is that "everything and more"? You don't give these types of awards to the first to do them, you give them to the one that made it a household item.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Iconoclysm Avatar
Iconoclysm
84 months ago

HUGE Apple fanboy here, but there is nothing so special about AirPods that they belong on this list. As someone who has bought and used wireless earbuds for YEARS before Apple got around to them, I can honestly say that Apple did not produce the first nor the best wireless earbuds available.
You did not use truly wireless earbuds for "YEARS" before the AirPods. The first wireless earbuds came along in April 2015, AirPods launched in December 2016. The Bragi Dash is the only competition the original AirPods had...and none of the competition even with wires pair so easily or had battery life on par.


Really? Really? A big iPod touch, iwatch, and tampon strings.
Yes, what's it like ridiculing industry changing devices with childish insults only to be proven wrong on an astronomical scale?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DoctorTech Avatar
DoctorTech
84 months ago
I often disagree with Time's "Best of Year / Best of Decade" lists but I would have to agree with those items being on the list. Each of them are best in their respective categories and in the case of iPad and Apple Watch, they have really defined the category.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments